Brosimum alicastrum

Swartz

Prodr., 12. 1788.

Common names: Breadnut
IllustratedIntroduced
Synonyms: Alicastrum brownei Kuntze
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 3.

Trees, to 30 m. Branchlets gray-brown, glabrous. Leaves: stipules clasping, ca. 4 mm; petiole 0.5-0.7 cm. Leaf blade 5-15 × 2-6 cm, base broadly obtuse to rounded, apex obtuse to short-acuminate, nearly cuspidate; surfaces abaxially and adaxially glabrous; veins 12-18 pairs. Inflorescences nearly globose, 3-6 mm diam.; peduncle slender, equal to or shorter than head. Staminate flowers: anther ca. 1 mm diam. Pistillate flowers: style 1.5-8.5 mm; stigmas 0.2-8 mm, unequal. Syncarps yellow, 1.5-2 cm diam.


Phenology: Flowering all year.
Habitat: Disturbed areas
Elevation: 0-50 m

Distribution

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Introduced; Fla., Mexico, West Indies (Cuba and Jamaica), Central America, n South America.

Discussion

Brosimum alicastrum, native to tropical America, is cultivated in tropical Florida as an ornamental; it rarely escapes.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.